His Poster, Her Mask
by Andysfire
Summary: Eye-colour soulmates Au, where the first time you see a colour, is when you see it in your soul mates eyes. If this bares resemblance to someone elses fic its because i loved the fic, cannot for the life of me remember the author and really wanted to write me own version of it. Marienette first see's green on a poster, he see's blue in a mask. Rated T for like two swears
Eye-colour soulmates Au, where the first time you see a colour, is when you see it in your soul mates eyes. If this bares resemblance to someone elses fic its because i loved the fic, cannot for the life of me remember the author and really wanted to write me own version of it.
Marinette first see's green on a poster, he see's blue in a mask. I might do an Adrien version later, probably not though and no promises.

Words: 5210 Language: English

/AN/ this was meant to be a drabble not a 5k oneshot omg what am I doing with my life its almost 3am.

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She was ten the first time the trees bloomed in the foreign colour. Dull greys that glistened in the light of the sun gained tones and hues she could never have imagined. The source of this change was a shy glance from a stories tall billboard. Green eyes peeked through the latest in advertisements for the latest line in Gabriel's. Adrien Agreste looked down at her with an expression of shyness as his hand curled to the back of his neck, his features fighting the grin that was trying to shine through the traditional cold-cut marble smile of models. Her confusion was evident as she locked eyes with the poster, shocked beyond words and terrified of the implications this had for her. She ran home with out another thought, abandoning the errand her parents had sent her on during her lunch break.

She was twelve the first time she saw him in person, the park across from her home in the seventh was bustling with activity and she needed fresh air, so she and her best friend opted to scope out the scene. Marienette was lost for words when the familiar head of blond hair caught her attention. The shoot was going with out a hitch, a few other teens gathered around and mothers and fathers with their children stopping to get a glimpse of the commotion. Alya, the incorrigible blogger, had her phone out searching the wide web for answers to the commotion. Adrien Agreste, the model son of Paris' most high profile design tycoon. Marienette froze at the revelation, wanting to run in the opposite direction from her supposed soul mate. She did not ask for this, the famous soul mate that would laugh when he discovered who is blue was. The dorky and ungracefully clumsy daughter of a pair of (great, arguably Paris' finest) bakers. Alya put Marienette's urgency to leave down to the large crowds and undeniable cuteness of the model's features.  
She confided in her mother that night, asking what she would have done if papa had been someone famous, maybe a prince and she had been just a humble citizen. Her mother simply laughed as she plucked a sleeping ladybug from the flowers on the balcony of Marienette's room. "Mon amour, you forget who I am, stubbornness is a trait that runs rampant in Cheng women, I would have fought tooth and nail for your father, and it would always be worth it. There are only a few things in life you can count on Mari, and that's yourself and ladybugs." The bug flew from her fingers and off into the night, presumably looking for a new bloom to nestle into. "And your maman, of course."  
"Why ladybugs maman?" Her voice was timid and soft, barely a whisper.  
"Because ladybug luck never fails."

She was fourteen when her perspective shifts. Green dominates her visual field as she lies on the ground below a canopy of emeralds and jade. She decides, in that same park she had ran from years earlier, she was too abrupt and harsh in her dismissal of her soul mate. Her growing love of the colour green was partly to blame, each encounter with the distant model blooming new shades into her vision. But ultimately, it was the smallest, strangest thing that changed her mind. It was a young girl, one she had baby sat quite often who attracted her attention. Her mother was in the distance answering a phone call, probably one from her busy job, when tragedy struck. The girl was trying to play with a toy cat, a little black one that had eyes of green. She was throwing it and catching it when it inevitably got stuck, her mother to distracted to bother with a rescue attempt. That was when Adrien abandoned the book, bodyguard and bench he was on to climb the tree for her and rescue it. Such a simple act of kindness and it set her heart soaring. This supposed glamorous boy with anything he could ask for stopped to help out a perfect stranger. He even stayed and played for a while before the giant gorilla of a bodyguard whisked him away into a white limo nearby. Marienette decided in that moment that green was her favourite colour, and nothing could convince her otherwise.

It was months later that she found the earrings; it was after a less than successful attempt at babysitting Manon. The little girl was wild with energy and excitement and refused to sit still, bounding around the apartment and flitting about all the bright colours, even stopping a little to enjoy the flowers Marienette's mother, Sabine Cheng, kept at some of the windows. The afternoon was chaos, Marienette kept up as well as she could but Manon's infectious energy eventually won out as Marienette gave up her chase. It was pure luck that Nadja had chosen that moment to collect her little bundle of energy, allowing Marienette the much-needed sigh of relief. The rest of her day was spent in the park with a sketchbook, designs inspired by the greens around her flooding the pages. It was almost 3 when she decided that looking at the leaves from the ground wasn't cutting it. She left her sketchbook at the base of the tree before climbing it, slow but careful movements allowed her progress up the branches and into the canopy. Up close, the greens of summer filled her with more joy than she knew she could possess, the urge to climb even higher filling her. It was then that she found a small wooden box nestled into a hollow in the main trunk of the tree. She opened it carefully, not sure if she wanted to disturb someone else's' privacy but the ladybug that flits around her hand urges her to pry the lid from its base to reveal the glistening black jewels. She wants to put them back, obviously they were someone's and it was rude of her to have interfered this much but she can't. The small studs call to her and she puts them in her pocket and before the voice of reason can stop her she's down from the tree, ignoring the last branch for a jump to the ground. She's still in a daze as she whips up her sketchbook and messenger bag and heads home.

Its days later when she finally gives in to temptation. She opens the rustic little box to reveal the two earrings replaces her own with them. Nothing grand happens, no big moment, no revelation. She glances at the mirror and cant help but love the way they look on her, but guilt builds in her stomach as she thinks how they probably belonged to someone and how she had disturbed their resting place. It doesn't help that tucked into the corner of her mirror is a picture of her Adrien Agreste from one of his shoots. The gorgeous green eyes seeming judging and disappointed in her.  
She can't explain why she waits until late at night, when she knows her parents are asleep and out for the count, to return the box, earrings and all. She tucks it safely into the zip pocket on her jacket before slipping out of her window and down the fire escape. It takes her longer to climb the tree this time, especially with the way the leaves look at night, the new colour shocking her in a good way. When she finally makes it back to the spot, box in hand; she's shocked to find that the little hollow is already occupied with a much larger than life bug with a giant spot on its forehead. The shock prevents her from screaming but her strangled gasp stirs the creature from its slumber.  
"Hello Marienette Dupain-Cheng. I've been waiting for you."

That's also the first night that she transforms, her and Tikki made quite a show of getting used to her new life as Ladybug, a spandex-clad supernatural vigilante. She flew across the cityscape of Paris, her path illuminated only by the dim glow of the stars and the brilliant lights the aptly named city supplied. She ran over rooves, tumbled every now and then and definitely lost her footing a few times but all in all, it was a success. And it was amazingly free. That, she could get used to, but the suit had to be changed, it was impractical and left no room for modesty.

The next time Marienette transformed she was almost unrecognisable from the first. The black spotted body suit had been redesigned to include a proper belt to store her yoyo; it was black with red spots. Tikki's idea, not Marienette's. Black boots now rose to her knees, complimented by the gloves that adorned her wrists. The spots stayed but padding was added in a few areas like her thighs, elbows and shoulders, mostly to account for her lack of grace when landing. A delicate black headband also hid amongst her hair now, pinning back some of her bangs and supporting two little antennae that Marienette had originally sketched as a joke, but Tikki refused to ignore. Her hair was locked into two twin tails with red ribbons and while she looked the picture of sweet and mischief, one glance was all it took to know she meant business.

She meets Chat not two weeks later; he's running across the rooves just as she had her first few nights of newfound freedom. She chases him a little, wondering who and what he is supposed to be when she loses her footing, she stumbles on a roof and messes up her landing but before she can take off again she discovers she doesn't know where to take off. The mysterious stranger disappeared from her line of sight with out a trace, she doesn't have to wonder for long before a raspy voice from behind her answers her unspoken curiosity.  
"It wouldn't be little ol' me you're falling for, would it?" She turns and freezes instantly before a fire with in her is sparked.  
"Hardly, I try to at least save that for the second outing. At least I would if I planned for there to be one." He grins at her wit before stepping into the light. She's trying to take in the ridiculous ears on his head and the tail at his side, trying too hard to understand just what is going on and to figure out if this is what Tikki meant about the 'cat who never comes when he's called' to notice the bewilderment in the chaton's very, very, green eyes. She misses the tone of awe as he replies.  
"In that case it seems, tonight at least, the lucky one is me."

It's a month later when school resumes for her. She makes it early for the first (and last) time of the year. She takes her unassigned seat by Alya and Nino as their teacher, Ms. Bustier enters to take roll and introduce the new students. Marienette's breath hitches in her throat as her eyes land on Adrien Agreste, the green in them even more vibrant than she had ever known it to be. She's speechless as he takes the seat in front of her and almost passes out before Alya pokes her aggressively back into reality. Nino turns him around to introduce Alya and herself, they lock eyes for a moment and a weak 'Hello' pushes past her lips. He smiles and returns it but that's all. There's no recognition, no 'aha!' moment, no double take, nothing. He looks confused at her state of petrification but turns back to face the front as the teacher begins the day. Marienette had never felt so utterly shell-shocked in her life, she had known for almost five years that Adrien was her soul mate, but never in that time had she considered what would happen if she wasn't his. She knew it could and had happened before, but it was so rare the possibility wasn't even that much.

Its two months later at lunch as a group that the topic of colour and soul mates comes up. It was inevitable, especially considering Alya and Nino had known since they were eight. She hates the topic, and Alya had a feeling she did but pushed it anyway. Adrien unknowingly saves them from her would-be rampage by saying how he met his soul mate during the summer break. They ran into each other by chance and had a casual but close friendship. Marienette wanted to scream, his words confirming her fairly astute prediction. He talked about how he never knew the sky could be so interesting, having seen it in greys much of his life and she wanted to cry, knowing the feeling all too well in how she had grown to love greens. It was lucky that in that moment the alarm on Alya's phone signalled their return to class.

It's been weeks since that fateful lunch and Marienette's only fallen deeper for Adrien. As they slowly become friends, despite her efforts to build up a barrier getting to now him as an actual person breaks it down each day. Their day is interrupted as usual by Hawkmoth and one of his mood swings. Akuma are becoming such a regular occurrence in Paris its almost scary how normalised the scene it. It's an easy battle but long and somewhat messy. It involved a chase through the city and a few minions here and there, but ultimately it was the release she needed. Chat notices the difference in her but doesn't comment and neither does she. They both pretend her actions are nothing out of the ordinary, he hopes that she will come to him if there's something wrong.

Its years later and she never does. After that battle she returns to her normal self and their friendship and partnership bloom but to Chat she remains that little bit out of reach, just as Adrien does to Marienette. She never mentions the elephant in her mind and the two grow to be better friends than either imagined. Nino and Alya often gives her knowing glances but despite their rigorous efforts Marienette remained adamant in her refusal to confirm their hunch that Adrien was her soul mate.  
The four of them are at an arcade when Alya brings up soul mates again, only this time it's regarding Chat Noir and her masked self. She and Nino are in a heated discussion over whether or not the famed Parisian duo are indeed soul mates or not. Nino was undecided but Alya was sure.  
"Come on Neens, look at the way he looks at her, they have to be soul mates. You don't look at a friend like that." Adrien walks over when they start talking about Ladybug but Marienette tries to stay out of this particular conversation. She has enough of Alya prying into her civilian love life; she doesn't need her prying into her alter ego's as well. At least, until Adrien weighs in.  
"I agree Al, but if you notice she never looks back at Chat like that. Maybe Ladybug is Chat's soul mate but he isn't hers." Marienette freezes at this, because he isn't far from the truth. She and Chat had had this conversation when they were 16, he had confessed and she had turned him down due to her still growing affections for Adrien.  
"Adrien who hurt you? Of course he is her soul mate! True love's kiss never lies!" Marienette's cheeks bloom red and before Alya has a chance to elaborate on the kiss she's saved by the scream. For the first time since receiving her miraculous she is grateful, if not guilty, for it. The battle is over quickly, years of work as a team moulding Chat and Ladybug into a well-refined, solitary unit. The two worked as one to bring down the latest in Hawkmoth's run of akuma, at least at first in the battle. Ladybug was being a bit more aggressive and reckless than usual. Her strikes less precise and her plan was definitely more impulse than improvise than it normally is. However, it's the hit she almost takes for Chat that hardens his resolve. She might seem only slightly off to the onlookers, and maybe more than slightly to Alya, but to Chat it's like someone else claimed her spots for the day. He doesn't comment on her behaviour, or ask questions as she purifies the akuma or express his concern in her behaviour as she cleanses the city. What he does do is offer to take her patrol for the night, which as he expects, she adamantly refuses.  
"Then at least let me join you, you were a bit reckless out there My Lady, I hate to think of you sprinting across rooftops with out any sense of caution, alone, in the middle of the night." She huffs but doesn't bother to reject the offer, she knows he has already decided to accompany her no matter her response in this moment. They part at the Eiffel, the unspoken promise of a night-time rendezvous between them. She knows he won't push her to speak about what's bothering her but his company wouldn't be completely unwelcome.

They run together that night, fast, free and unhindered. She races him across the rooftops, no ultimate destination in mind, the so-called patrol long forgotten for the night. She embraced the distraction of his company, brushing off the usual flirting attempts and rolling her eyes aggressively at his puns, the mood is light and she almost forgets why she was tense and needed this in the first place, only almost and she just might have forgotten if they weren't stopped on this particular rooftop for a breather. Her eyes catch the billboard for Gabriel's. The green stares at her like it knows all her secrets and for a moment she thinks it probably does. The colour is still one of her favourites but at moments like this she feels trapped by it, judged and unworthy of seeing it. Chat noticed her posture, the way she's frozen and her breath is hitching. He noticed the way her eyes are locked on the ridiculous shot of his face and for the life of him wonders why, of all the bloody rooves in Paris, they had to choose one with a direct view into a rather obnoxiously large graphic of his face.  
"Do you know him?" he asks almost hopefully, wondering if maybe he and his Lady are closer than they know. A dry laughter escapes her throat as she turns pointedly in the opposite direction of the billboard.  
"Do I know him? Well I guess you could say that." He can't help but notice the forlorn look in her features, at least he prays that is what she feels, and not the irritation he's feeling. "Can I ask you something, Minou?" She moves to sit on the edge of the building, deliberately facing away from his civilian face. He really hopes he doesn't know her as Adrien because if she does, he has screwed up something major. He takes is place beside her regardless, offering his obvious,  
"Af-fur-rmative, My Lady." That one earns him a slap to the shoulder and a gentle laugh. She's quiet for several moments before asking the question that's been on her mind for quite some time.  
"What would you do if your soul mate's soul mate was someone else?" He doesn't miss the slight turn back to Adrien's face or the hunch in her form. He definitely doesn't miss the catch in her throat or the glisten in her eyes. And her definitely can't help but think back to a similar conversation they'd had years earlier.  
"I would hope to all the gods in the world that there had been a meow-velous misunderstanding." He places an arm along her back, trying incredibly hard to think of all his blue-eyed friends and hoping that purrhaps she was one of them and they'd both managed to miss each other. His thoughts stop at Chloe for a few moments before relief washes the terror through his system and out of it. He definitely met Chloe several times before he met Ladybug, and never before that fated night she had chased him across Paris had he seen blue, let alone in Chloe's eyes. Marienette entered his thoughts briefly but he didn't want to get his hopes up, she would be an awesome Ladybug and he couldn't deny how much he had wanted her to be, especially since aside from Nino she was his closest friend. He had entertained the notion a few times, even more so when she stood up against Chloe, he could feel the fire in her blood and it excited him more than he wanted to admit, but it was enough to feel like he was being disloyal to his lady, the one true owner of his heart.  
Ladybug settles against him, sighing softly and agreeing with him.  
"I'll take that into consideration, probably less so than I would without the pun." He chuckles softly but she feels it vibrating through his whole body. The quiet between them is nice before he had to be an idiot and disrupt it.  
"Does he know? Adrien, I mean." He knew the answer, obviously he didn't know but she didn't know he was also the boy on the really obnoxious advertisement.  
"What! I.. Uh- What gave you that idea, why would Adrien know who my soul mate is?" She grew incredibly flustered and he would have found it so incredibly cute if she wasn't freaking out and drawing away from him.  
"My bad, bugaboo, context and all." She was already half off the building, the moment clearly ruined. "Take your chance on him!" He called after her, but ancient kwami gods alone knew if she actually heard him.

Its hours, about four of them that she tosses in her sheets. Chat's parting suggestion running through her head like a broken record that skips over the same place in a track. Loud and constant are the words 'take a chance', so much so that it's almost five in the morning when she gives up on the pursuit of sleep entirely. She can hear her parents down in the bakery as they prepare for the day of work and sales, and moves to the balcony with a comforter for a touch of quiet. The cold morning air greets her cheeks as the first remnants of dawn brush across the sky. She loves this view, as the lights dance around her and the colour of the night parts with the city allowing the break of day to reclaim it. She loves the way her garden comes to life and as she takes in the beauty of the morning she remember her mothers' words of advice. Not for the first time, she remembers how stated proudly her maman that she would fight for her papa and the conviction she had that it would be worth it. She remembers the light laughter her mother made and the little bug she plucked from the garden. The sun was just starting to break the horizon when Marienette realised what she should do. She was a Cheng woman, and a rigidly stubborn one at that and it was about time she made a move to fight for her soul mate. She needed to find Adrien and tell him the truth, tell him what he really was to her. She needed to lay her cards on the table and let him make the decision of what cards to draw. Nothing was going to change in their friendship if she didn't make it, she needed to trust herself and pray that her ladybug luck was as true as her maman said it was.

Its during the second period of the day that Marienette decides to act, and that that particular action will come tomorrow because Adrien comes in late looking about as tired and wrecked as she feels. It's the third period when she realises that her cowardice was actually a good idea as Alya is poking her awake with an unnecessarily sharp pencil. It's her third coffee of the day that makes her realise that under no circumstances was sleep deprivation fun. It's the end of the day as she reaches home when she breaks down and feels like the fraud she knows she is. She was so ready this morning to take charge and tell him, so ready to woman up and make her feelings known but as the day drew on that strength and surety cracked and made way to the coward she was with in. Maybe she was stubborn like the Cheng women, but in this moment she felt that maybe there was too much Dupain in her for her to be half the woman her maman was.

Tikki pries her awake the next morning, soft words of encouragement filter from her lips as she watched Marienette get herself ready for the day. Her hair was left loose for the day, soft waves through it from the braids it had been in the previous day. She feels terrified as she leaves the bakery, knowing she can't go another day with one like yesterday. She can't stew on this secret she's kept since she was ten any longer. Its been eight years, eight years of burning its way through her system and tearing her apart with self doubt and anxiety. Not even Alya knew the truth about her soul mate, she had her theories and some were crack-theories at best, but she didn't know the truth. She was early to school for the first time in years, hoping to catch her friend before she had to face her fate. It was just her damn ladybug luck that Alya was there, seated with Nino and Adrien, the friend she was hoping to see much, much, later. They waved her over, shock mixed in their features at her punctuality but she didn't let it get to her. She was known for being perpetually late and frankly felt a little offended that they thought she couldn't be anything else. She swallows thickly, offering her hellos before diving in head first.  
"Adrien, can I steal you away for a moment?" He looks up at her, surprise flashing in his crystalline eyes for a brief second before Alya interrupts him.  
"Nah uh girl, you are here on time for the first time since Lycee we are commemorating the moment!" She pulls out her phone to snap a selfie but the stubborn nature in Marienette refuses to back down.  
"Fine then." Marienette throws a rather pointed look at her best friend who is still rifling for her cell phone; Nino catches it but is too slow to stop the onslaught Marienette was preparing. Adrien is almost frightened when her gaze turns on him, he's almost reminded of ladybug but refuses to go down that path.  
"I might as well say this in front of everyone anyway, Adrien, you're eyes are green," The three at the table look at her, this was not new news to them given that Alya, Nino and Adrien could all see the colour. "And they are the reason I can see the colour." That bit earned gasps from Nino, Alya just looked ready to combust. Marienette takes in a deep breath before saying the last part, "The reason I've seen it since I was like ten. I know you have a soul mate already and I'm not trying to mess that up for you, but a good friend of mine talked some sense into me and I thought you deserved to know." She's met by three very dumbfounded looks, a slightly angry yet excited Alya, she could almost feel her excitement at being right, and one very angry Chloe in the distance. Marienette leaves before he can say anything, walking away faster than she meant to, one very exaggerated power walk fleeing her from the scene. She makes it to the empty classroom before he catches her, his eyes searching. His voice is soft when he speaks, so much so she almost misses it.  
"My… My lady?" he asks so carefully, searching her so thoroughly for any reaction, hoping harder than he ever had that he was right. The widening of her moth ever so slightly and the breathless 'kitty' that leaves her lips is answer enough for him, he nods slightly in response, his hand moving of its own accord to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. They're frozen for a few moments before the silence is broken, by her very loud and very un-ladylike curse.  
"No fucking way. Are you kidding me? This whole god damn time?" She runs her fingers through her hair in the most exasperated, dramatic manner that he can't help but laugh as he pulls her toward him, in hopes for the kiss he's craved since the night they met. He pauses a few inches from her face, a ridiculous grin creeping up his face.  
"We were really idiots huh?" His eyes are filled with mirth while hers are frustrated slits against her light skin.  
"Get that stupid smile off your face chaton." She lets him pull her in but refuses to remove the scowl from her face.  
"Paw-den me, My Lady, but the situation is paw-sitively hiss-terical. I can't help it, I'm feline meow-velously purrfect right about meow." She groans loudly in his grasp and he has to fight the urge to laugh. Her finger seals his lips, effectively locking the bubbling laughter in.  
"That was seven. Seven in two sentences what did I do to deserve this torture?"  
"Aw bugaboo, I'm only-"  
"I'm warning you alley cat. One more fucking pun and I will launch you off the top of the TV studio." Her eyes convey all the warning he needs, her lip-blocking finger moving down to his chest.  
"-Kidding around." He laughs at her annoyance, not sure if she would have preferred the pun or not but she rolls her eyes, humour slowly sinking into her features.  
"Shut up, just shut up." She shakes her head a little, eyes slipping closed as her head tilts down. He takes the moment to act on the one thought he's had since his hunch was proven true. Her chin is tilted up to meet his slightly and their lips begin to brush, finally, after years of dancing around each other.

At least they would have had Nino not chosen that particular moment to fall through the door. The obvious eavesdroppers not even taking the moment to look ashamed as Alya lowers her phone to help up her partner in crime. She offers the pair two elated thumbs up before the rest of their class begins to file in for the day, forcing the duo to separate and take their seats. The teacher gives an odd look in Marienette's direction, ' really, it wasn't that odd for her to be on time!' Before he moved on to address the whole class, beginning the usual order of the day.

/AN/  
Hello ffnet,  
So it's been a long time, a really, really long time since I've written anything to completion, let alone uploaded anything. By that I mean, its been over a year. So when I dived head first into the Miraculous fandom this was the last thing I expected, even as I jotted down ideas and played out fics in my head. But today I present to you the first fic i have written in like a year, the first fic I have properly written for ML and i beg you to bare with me its two fourty in the morning, i've been writing for like three hours, havent properly editted beyond spell check and I can't help but feel like they are so OOC even though its AU anyway and AAAARRRRGHHHH. Anyways, hope it wasn't too bad.

I'm not back but I'm hoping to be one day. I hope you like this, its different from what I usually write.


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